Gene (Bean) Baxter has returned home to Washington state following Nov. 13 surgery in which he donated a kidney to KROQ engineer Scott Mason. Bean is expected to return to the KROQ/106.7 FM Kevin and Bean Show Monday (Nov. 26). ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Manny Pacheco, host of the "Forgotten Hollywood" radio series on KSPA/1510 AM, won third place in the "Entertainment Blog by an Individual" in the National Entertainment Journalism awards competition given out at a Los Angeles Press Club event Nov. 18. Here, Pacheco poses with Kathy Griffin, who also attended the event. LAURIE PACHECO

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Actor Sam Waterston, seen most recently in the HBO "Newsroom" series, chats with Manny Pacheco, host of the "Forgotten Hollywood" radio series on KSPA/1510 AM, who won third place in the "Entertainment Blog by an Individual" in the National Entertainment Journalism awards competition given out at a Los Angeles Press Club event Nov. 18. LAURIE PACHECO

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Sam Benson was a familiar voice and on-air talent on local radio and TV for more than four decades. He passed away Nov. 12 at age 90.

Jim Ladd told me once, in a 1995 interview, "Radio in general (is) not run by people who know the music anymore. They try to pick a little narrow slot." He was leaving KLSX/97.1 FM at the time. It was dropping classic rock for talk. Ladd would return to a previous home, KLOS/95.5 FM, and in his last stint there, did 14 years of free-form radio. Then, in October of 2011, he got the word he was out again.

Classic rock purists might say the day Ladd left KLOS was The Day The Music Died. But, to use a cliché that is so true, when one door closed, another opened. One year ago he signed with satellite radio Sirius XM and went on the air there Feb. 13, doing four hours a night from 4 -8 p.m. Pacific time on Deep Tracks Channel 27.

What a difference a year makes. "It has been absolutely wonderful and a great learning experience," he said in a phone interview from a studio high atop the Hollywood hills.

"Even though I have been fighting for free-form all my life, it is more freedom than I have ever had before. I'm exploring a lot more music that is available to me. They put in eight tracks that would never see the light of day on terrestrial radio. I'm finding songs that I was unaware of," he said.

Ladd's show is commercial-free. Subscribers receive a radio to use in the car or at home, or they can listen online. See www.siriusxm.com.

Sirius XM does not break out subscriber counts by shows, but overall it has 23.4 million subscribers. Sirius XM's Gregg Steele oversees rock music programming from his base in Washington, D.C. and said Ladd is "a super dedicated human being, the salt of the earth, and one of the easiest guys to work with." He said the service does a lot of channel cross-promotion to make people aware of the Deep Tracks channel.

Ladd signed a one-year deal. Asked if he will re-sign, he emphatically said "yes."

"A major new push is coming," he said. "We are going to take calls from listeners and get involved in social media. I can't believe I am doing this national show. The technology is amazing. They leave me completely alone to do what I want to do. And if I come across a song that is not in the library, I send them an email and ask if it can be added, and, boom, there it is the next day."

BEAN BACK HOME

Gene (Bean) Baxter returned to his home in Washington state Nov. 20, doing well after donating a kidney to KROQ/106.7 FM engineer Scott Mason on Nov. 13. Mason is also on the road to recovery and was released from the hospital Nov. 17.

Bean phoned into the Kevin & Bean show to talk about the recovery process and to thank KROQ listeners for their support. He said he hopes to return to the show fulltime Monday (Nov. 26). For sure, he said, "he wants to be back in time for the Miss Double D-cember pageant," the website posted. More information: kroq.cbslocal.com.

CBS-TV cameras had exclusive access to the operation, giving Bean the opportunity to watch the removal of his own kidney on "CBS This Morning."

On the KROQ website, Bean said he "went down the hallway to visit Scott, joking 'I went down to check on my other kidney.' We know how poorly he's looked in recent years. It's unbelievable. The transformation... he looks 10 years younger, smiling, laughing, happy... You guys always make fun of me for being a robot not a unicorn, but I teared up when I saw him. It was emotional to see how great he looked."

MISS DOUBLE-D

Yes, you know the holidays are here when KROQ/106.7 FM selects its Top 10 finalists for Kevin & Bean's Miss Double D-cember 2013 Pageant. It takes place Nov. 30 at the Slidebar in Fullerton. "The winner gets all sorts of prizes... like tickets to Almost Acoustic Christmas, Weenie Roast and April Foolishness, professional photo shoots," the website says.

Marc "Mookie" Kaczor, music director at low-power Laguna Beach FM KX 93.5, emailed, "We're into our second month of broadcasting ... and our brand of "Generational Alt Rock" has been very well received." The listener-supported non-profit plays an extended indie and alternative format, he said.

"Podcasts now available, and information on our first ever membership drive is up there too," he added. More information: www.KX935.com.

CARMEL AM CHANGE

The rumors finally became fact – the much-loved KRML/1410 AM jazz and blues station in Carmel is switching to rock, starting Monday (Nov. 26). The station is best remembered by movie fans when Clint Eastwood used the station as a backdrop in the 1971 movie "Play Misty For Me."

PACHECO HONORED

Manny Pacheco and I have partnered on the "Forgotten Hollywood, Forgotten History" book series and the 3 p.m. Saturday "Forgotten Hollywood" radio show on KSPA/1510 AM and www.thesparadio.com. The Cypress resident's credits go back to the '80s and include a long-standing personal friendship with KHHT Hot 92.3 FM's Art Laboe.

On Nov. 18, he won third place in the entertainment blog by an individual category at the National Entertainment Journalism awards competition given out at a Los Angeles Press Club event honoring, among others, Jane Fonda. Well deserved, Manny. His blog is full of movie history and worth checking out at www.forgottenhollywood.com.

92.7 FM UPDATE

No official announcement has been made yet, but it appears that Educational Media Foundation is the company that will flip the Playlist 92.7 FM format to contemporary Christian. The non-profit operates the online listener-supported station K-Love. More info: www.klove.com/djs/bios/.

RADIO REWIND

Rewind for the week of Nov. 25

Nov. 27, 1964: WGGB in Red Lion, PA, harshly criticized author Fred Cook over his biography of Barry Goldwater. Cook demanded a chance to respond on the air. The situation led to the FCC "Fairness Doctrine" which mandates that stations cover both sides of controversial issues.

Nov. 28, 1932: NBC's Blue Network debuted "Beagle Shyster & Beagle," a comedy series starring Groucho Marx as an attorney and Chico Marx as his assistant. After a lawyer named Beagle threatened to sue, the name was changed to "Flywheel Shyster & Flywheel."

Dec. 1, 2011: Cumulus Media fired eight talk-show hosts at KGO in San Francisco and switched the station to an all-news format.

PASSING PARADE

Sam Benson was a good friend for many years in the '60s through the '80s. He was a radio and TV voice and personality who could do it all – produce shows, write copy, do public affairs, sell cars for Earl C. Anthony and pitch dozens of other local products from Lou's Garage to silver cleaners. He spent most of his career at KLAC radio and KTTV, channel 11. Later he did public relations for the L.A. County Fair.

"Sam...was the only constant through management, ownership and format changes. He saw it all from the legendary 'Big 5' DJs to Joe Pyne to 'Future Fonic Sound,' Haynes at the Reins and the transition to a country format," wrote Don Barrett at Los Angeles Radio People. Benson died Nov. 12 at age 90.

STATION BREAKS

Chris Carter's "Breakfast with the Beatles," 9 a.m.-noon Sunday (Nov. 25) on KLOS/95.5 FM, features the White Album (in mono) - both LP's, outtakes, rarities, plus an hour of "George Harrisongs." This episode did not air Nov. 18 as printed here last week. More info: www.955klos.com.

Orange County Register business writer Jon Lansner is on KFWB/980 AM at 8:12 a.m. Fridays.

"The Pet Place Radio Show" airs 7:30 a.m. Sundays on K-Mozart 1260 AM. The Nov. 25 show with Orange County host-producer Marie Hulett includes Judie Mancuso talking about the California Pet Lovers License Plates and Maria Dales of German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County. More info: www.kmozart.com, www.petplace.org, and www.facebook.com/PetPlaceRadio.

George Harrison is honored on the 11th anniversary of his death on Pat Matthews" 10 a.m. Sunday (Nov. 25) show at www.Beatlesarama.com.

Keri Tombazian will be at Spaghettini in Seal Beach on Sunday (Nov. 25) for KTWV/94.7 FM's "Wave" Sunday Brunch. KTWV is also at The Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel. More info on the OC brunch: www.spaghettini.com.

Mari Frank hosts two Monday morning shows on Irvine-based KUCI/889.9 FM starting at 8 a.m. One is "Privacy Policy" and is followed by "Prescriptions for Healing Conflict." "Private Policy" topic Monday (Nov. 26) is "Restorative Justice." More information: Mari@MariFrank.com.

John and Larry Gassman's "Same Time Same Station" salutes announcer Harlan Wilcox. Shows include Amos & Andy and Boston Blackie. It streams on demand beginning every Sunday at Jerry Haendiges's OTR site www.vintageradioplace.com. It is available from Radio Out Of The Past beginning Monday or Tuesday.Download it at www.radiooutofthepast.org.

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